PGAHS Puts the Buzz Back Into Business Education
At Pine Grove Area High School, Business Education is thriving. On the contrary, with
the transition of Business Education changing from a specific business curriculum track
of required courses over the students’ high school careers, to a few required business
education courses for graduation, and the remainder of the Bus. Ed. courses offered as
electives to the student body, traditional business education curriculum has faced some
obstacles for enrollment in many schools. But at Pine Grove Area, enrollment continues
to increase and the curriculum is getting more challenging, luring students from all
programs – academic and technical.
The Business Education Department has changed its name to Business, Computer, and
Information Technology Department, reflecting the change of the conventional business
education content in our society and workplace. Also, offering courses the students are
interested in is a large part of the answer. Students at PGAHS have the choice of a variety
of Business, Computer, and Information Technology courses: Sports and Entertainment
Marketing, Accounting I & II, Web Page Design, Communication Skills and
Presentations, Computer Programming I & II, Advanced Computer Applications,
Desktop Publishing, CISCO IT Essentials I, and Word Processing. Computer
Applications and Career Exploration are two courses that are required for graduation at
PGAHS. In the 2006-2007 school year, Personal Finance and Sports and Entertainment
Management courses will be added to this course line-up.
Students in the Sports and Entertainment Marketing (SEM) class have been very busy
this year. First, they planned, organized, and put into place the successful PGASD
Homecoming 2005 Celebration Week. From the Community & School “Kick-Off”
Movie Night at the Pine Grove Movie Theater, School Pep Rally, Celebration Spaghetti
Dinner for all PGASD Fall Athletes, Band, Chorus, and SEM members, and a
Homecoming Dance, to a day of sporting events, along with the Celebration Carnival,
Pine Grove/Tremont Business Decorating Contest, and Fireworks Display after the
PGAHS Football Game, the students were consumed with the project and all the
responsibilities.
But it did not stop there. In the second half of the year, the class was split up into two
“Apprentice” teams with the task of planning and organizing a high school dance. The
team that raised the highest profit was the winner! The task was a lot more involved than
the students anticipated, and SEM teacher, Melanie Wiscount, kept a “hands-off” and
facilitator-only approach to both teams’ efforts. “They (the students) learned a lot about
teamwork – the “good” and the “bad.” They learned lessons on communication,
responsibility, accountability, and compromise – skills that will help them succeed in
school, college, and the workplace.”
The students also enjoyed a field trip to the Wachovia Center’s 2006 High School
Students Sports and Entertainment Seminar in March and a NBA 76ers basketball game .
Last year, the SEM students traveled to the Hershey Giant Center where they learned
about the Sports and Entertainment Complex and its operations right in their own
backyard. They also took part in a Hershey Candy Marketing Survey and taste test at
Chocolate World. The year prior there were two field trips to Cabela’s which sported a
marketing seminar by Cabela’s Marketing Manager, and a trip to QVC. “We have these
great examples of marketing right here in Pennsylvania, and the students can apply what
they have learned in class and witness marketing applications that real businesses use to
be successful with their respective target markets”, said Wiscount. “Next year, I would
like to include a trip to Yuengling Brewery, our county marketing powerhouse and
success story.”
Each year guest speakers bring the “real world” into the PGAHS in both the Sports and
Entertainment Marketing and Career Explorations classes. This year, Louise Miller, the
owner of the Pine Grove Movie Theater and Movies at the Mall came into the class and
emphasized the importance of increasing “customer base.” And, Dave Gurdus, Marketing
Manager of Twin Grove Park and Campground also supported what the students learned
in the curriculum with unique and varied uses of marketing that has made Twin Grove
Park and Campground into a stellar local success. Insurance agents, human resource
directors, and managers help to give the students in Career Exploration great tips on job
interviews, resumes, and soft skills needed in the workplace.
One way students learn how a business works is with the class’ cookie-making program.
Students learn a variety lessons in product development, promotion, and price in selling
their popular M&M Cookies to PGAHS students. The students bake the cookies in class,
complete with wearing hair nets and wearing gloves, market the cookies to their peers,
and sell their commodity at a profit. “They see the entire process of running a business in
this very simple program”, says Wiscount. And, the aroma of freshly-baked cookies
filling the halls doesn’t hurt their efforts.”
Right now the SEM students have two other projects going. First, the class runs the
annual “Design-A-Homecoming-T-shirt Contest” where they use the winning entry to
create the next PGASD Homecoming T-Shirts, produced by R&J Trophies, Pine Grove.
Profits from the Homecoming T-shirt sales during the 2005 Homecoming Celebration
went towards the Hurricane Katrina Relief Fund of the Schuylkill County Red Cross
Chapter. Proceeds from the Spirit Chain Sale, “Kick-Off” Movie Night, and the
Homecoming Dance also contributed to the amount, for a total $1,513.00 donated to the
Red Cross by the PGASD SEM Class, Students, Faculty, and Community. “Turning our
focus and spirit to outside the district during homecoming week was our plan this past
year, and I think the students effectively accomplished that”, said Wiscount.
The second project will be an ongoing effort with the Pine Grove Area Grid Iron Club.
The Club has planned, organized, and absorbed the starting costs of the plans of the
future brick entranceway and Walk of Fame into the impressive PGASD Cardinal
Stadium. This sports venue boasts a track and field that has added a lot to school and
community pride over the past five years. The PGA Grid Iron Club has asked the SEM
class to market the brick pavers, which the sale of the pavers will finance this project.
The brick pavers will be sold over a course of three phases, with the first phase running
from May 18, 2006 – May 1, 2004. The pavers will be available in four different sizes,
and can be purchased and inscribed in tribute, memory, or honor of an individual, athlete,
student, faculty member, team, school organization, or community business or
organization. The PGAHS Web Page Design, under the direction of teacher Renee
Hughes developed the PGA Cardinal Memorial Web page which will be up on the
Internet in June 2006.
Students in the CISCO IT Essentials class built two state-of-the-art computer systems out
of all the necessary components and a hollow computer case. Under the direction of
Dennis Morgan, PGASD Technology Network Specialist, the students built both
computer systems from the ground up. The students then organized a faculty raffle for the
two computer systems around the holidays, with all the proceeds benefiting the Pine
Grove Community Food Bank. The lucky teachers who won the computer systems were
Barb Ritzheimer and Daryl Wessner, both in the Social Studies department.
Renee Hughes is also the Future Business Leaders of America PGAHS Chapter’s
advisor. This organization boasts over seventy members, which is a substantial portion of
our approximately 600-person student body. FBLA is kept busy all year with community
and school service projects. Every year the PGAHS FBLA sends over thirty students to
the PA FBLA State Competition, resulting in State Winners the past two years going onto
National competition. Kathy Kerick, who has taught at PGAHS for thirty years, also
teaches BCIT courses.